CullenLavellan Ficlets
by PrincessMidna90
Summary: A collection of Cullen/mage!Lavellan ficlets
1. Love

No matter what Cullen tries telling the others - tries telling himself - he does not worry when Lavellan is out on missions.  
He's glad she brings Bull with her, because it's not that she's not capable - Maker knows she can handle herself in a fight - but because he's trust in Bull's skills and Bull did after all appoint himself as her bodyguard.

If anyone asks is he worries about her, Cullen blushes, shrugs it off and claims it's because she's the only one who can close the Rifts.  
Leliana and Josie knows better, but doesn't let it on, while Cassandra smiles knowingly at him and lets him know she approves without saying a word.

Cullen's never had any reason to trust mages, and finds himself not knowing what to think of Solas, Vivienne or Dorian, but seeing as Bull trusts Dorian - enough to let him into his bed at least - makes him less distrustful towards the Vint than he was in the beginning.  
He doesn't know what to think about Varric - he counted Anders as a friend after all, and Cole is not human and therefore dangerous. Sera is… strange to say the least, but based on the rooftop talks and cookie-baking, it seems Lavellan trusts her.

He'd be happier if she brought Cassandra along more often, although it saves him from embarrassing himself by asking about how it went while they were away and was Lavellan hurt and did they run into any trouble or did the Seeker learn anything new about her or did Bull make a pass at her because if the qunari did then…..

Cullen hates the was Cassandra looks at him; hates himself for being weak enough to ask her but not strong enough to ask the Herald herself.

But Cullen can admit to himself that he would do anything to be out there with her; to fight alongside her, to keep watch over her at night, to have her back as she would have his.

It takes weeks, but Cullen finally admits to himself that he loves her.


	2. More Than a Mage

Cullen never feared magic until the "incident" at the Circle in Ferelden. He used to be cautious, suspicious, but he had been raised that way (and he honestly can't think of anyone who doesn't think that way, either currently or previously).

Finding out Lavellan was a mage unsettled him.  
Having been raised by the Templars and going through what he did, followed by the destruction of the Chantry in Kirkwall by a mage, it's understandable to everyone why he reacts the way he does towards mages.

But Lavellan, it turns out, is so much more than a mage. She's a free spirit, used to travelling plains and forests; but still takes her responsibilities seriously.  
Cullen doesn't know much about the Dalish, but he can understand that being the Keeper's First is both an honour and a burden.

Josephine told him what Lavellan told her; that she enjoyed roaming and exploring the forests they passed through, but that she was always a solitary child, even before the burden and responsibility of being taught by the Keeper was places on her frail shoulders.

Varric says she reminds him of Merrill in that way, and Cullen struggles to remember the petite elf who followed Hawke around.

Cullen know Lavellan isn't frail, but she looks like a gust of wind might blow her over.  
He learns to see her as the tall grass after watching her fight.  
The way she moved and bends and used her staff to cast spells; it seems like a dance she has practised many times over; either alone or in the company of her Keeper.

If Cullen were to describe her, he would say she were a a creature of the wild; something more than what everyone else sees; something more than a mage and more than an elf; as if nature had created her as a part of itself.

It pains him that there are no woods around Skyhold.  
When they were still in Haven, he used to watch her wander among the trees, looking as she was communicating with them and the creatures in it.

Lavellan has a way with animals, and the look on her face when she found out that she could purchase a Hart for a mount is one Cullen would do anything for to keep on her face.  
And when the mount arrived, she spent hours getting to know it, getting it to trust her and no one were heartless enough to tell her that she ought to go back to her duties instead.

It probably helped that he stood not far from the stables, glaring at the few people (Leliana and Cassandra) who tried to drag her into the War Room.  
He had to endure snide comments about that later on, but it was for her and she deserves everything she wants.

(Even if it's someone else and he would have to watch her fall in love with someone who's not him. He would hate that but accept it, because he cares too much to loose her.)


	3. Romantic

Cullen doesn't consider himself a romantic, has always been far too practical for that kind of nonsense.

He changes without even noticing.

The idea comes to him when he sends his men out to gather herbs in the Emerald Graves.  
He slips a note in with the list of the resources they are to gather, a list that asks for wildflowers.

If his men think it strange, they say nothing, and they return with a large boquet.

He places them in her room himself, on her desk, the day she's expected back from the Hissing Wastes.  
Cullen doesn't see her that day, but when he's called to meet in the War Room the day after, she has braided her hair and decorated it with some of the flowers he gave her.

No one says anything, and Cullen is too busy looking at Lavennan - who's looking over the reports - to notice the glances that pass between Josephine and Leliana.

So it becomes a ritual; whenever she is away - which is too often for his liking - he sends out someone to gather flowers for her if he can't do it himself.  
If his men are sent too far away to be able to bring back fresh flowers, he tells then to press and preserve them so there can always be a part of nature in her room, even if it can't always be fresh.

If Lavellan suspects anything, she never tells him.  
And it's okay; he doesn't need for her to say anything, doesn't need to hear her say "thank you".

The smile on her face and the flowers in her hair when she comes out of her chambers are enough


	4. Adamant

If he could, Cullen would have refused Lavellan from going into Adamant - at least without him by her side.

He knows Bull will fight with and by her, and he's seen what Hawke is capable of. Stroud is clearly capable as well, for having survived this long.  
Cole wants to help others, but he's a spirit and Creatures of the fade are not to be trusted. He doesn't know what to think about Solas; hasn't cared to get to know the mage.

But he puts his trust in the men by her side to keep her safe and to bring her back to him.  
Because he has to for everyone's sake; not just for his own sanity but for the sake of all of Thedas.

But then the dragon shows up and then she's GONE and Cullen is out of his mind with fear.

He can't stay still, but paces around and won't hear a single word of consolation ("She walked out of the Fade once before, Cullen, she'll come back this time as well." Cassandra tells him, but how can she know?).

He doesn't know how long she's gone (yes he does, down to the last second, though he'll never tell anyone that, not even her), but when she finally returns he has to restrain himself from dragging her back to Skyhold himself, to stop himself from taking her away from the danger the Grey Wardens possess.

His nightmares about watching his former friends and comrades being turned into abominations now turn into haunting nightmares about Lavellan becoming one and how he alone must be the one to kill what she has become.

What makes it worse is that he doesn't know if he could do it if it ever came to that.


	5. Hart and Halla

He's been planning to invite her for a trip to Honnoleath for days now, just saving up enough courage to ask her.  
It's not that Cullen thinks she'll say no (although his mind tells her she won't want to); it just takes him time to dare to ask.

She comes into his office and Cullen feels his heart stop for a moment and he feels so, so nervous.  
Lavellan does that to him, and Cullen finds he doesn't mind being turned into a stuttering fool.

He opens his mouth to ask her, but is interrupted by sounds outside; people running, talking loudly.  
Then he hears a sound he's barely heard before; that of a Hart.  
But this sounds different than the Hart already in the stables.

Before he has time to react, Lavellan is out his door, standing on the bridge leading to the hold itself.  
Cullen follows her outside, and what he can see is a Hart with colours he has never seen on an animal before.  
As if that wasn't surprising enough; following it are two Halla.

He draws his breath at the beauty of the rare animals and how the white pelts of the Halla shines in the sunlight.

The crowd below murmurs, but none approach the animals, and he realises they came alone, with no one to guide them.

Cullen looks to Lavellan, only to find her gone.  
Moments later she appears, running out the front door of the hold, down the stairs.  
She almost trips in excitement but steadies herself just in time.

When she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she slows to a steady pace, both hands extended towards the new arrivals.

The hart approaches her, and the halla slowly follows.

The entire crowd, Cullen included, holds their breath as Lavellan reaches out and strokes the halla.  
None dear speak out of fear of breaking the spell that seems to have fallen across the courtyard; the magical meeting of a Dalish elf and animals associated with her people.

Lavellan looks around then, appearing confused until she spots him atop the bridge where she left him.  
She waves to him, invites him to join her in meeting the animals for the first time.

Cullen doesn't run (yes, he does, and he doesn't care if anyone sees him), and soon he's only a few steps behind her, waiting to see the reactions of the animals, to see if they will allow him to come closer.

They do, and he marvels at the feel of the fur underneath his fingers, and the shape of the twisted horns and how trusting the halla seems.

He stares at them in marvel, incapable of turning away until Lavellan takes his hand.

Together they lead the halla to the garden, and as they find themselves alone there, Cullen finally musters the courage to ask her to join him on a trip, and the answer is everything he hoped it would be.


	6. Pregnancy

Cullen is utterly terrified when the Inquisitor finds out she's pregnant.  
With the life he's lead, Cullen could never imagine himself become a father.

In fact, he doesn't know who he's more terrified for; his dear wife, the child growing inside her, or himself.

The Inquisitor is strong and capable, but to Cullen she still seems frail and he worries about the effect of the pregnancy on her small shape.

So he fusses and flits to and fro; never leaving her for long even though he has work to do.  
She kicks him out every now and again, but with less frequency as her stomach grows and she has difficulty walking the stairs up and down to their tower.  
It's theirs now, not just hers, but Cullen still keeps his bed above his office for the days when moods ride her and kicks her out.

They're married, but his wife is still the Inquisitor, and the personality she's acquired after having been dragged unwillingly into this ordeal had made her a bit bossy.

Cullen placed guards at her door, so if something happens, he can know in an instant.

Other times he sleeps on the sofa in their room, especially when the nights turn colder, so he can hold her and keep her warm when she lets him know.

Most of the time he knows she's cold before she can call out for him, and he's rewarded with a kiss each time he snuggles up to her.

His coat hangs by her bed, so she can put it on and not be so cold.

Varric makes an off-hand comment about Cullen being territorial during a game of Wicked Grace and Cullen's reaction seems to only edge the writer on.

Cullen almost asks Varric if he's working on a series about the Inquisitor and himself, but decides he'd rather not know, so he lets it slide for now.

The twins are born on a late spring day, the promise of warmer times carried on the wind.

As he holds his first-born daughter, he marvels at the beauty of her. His golden hair and eyes combined with her mother's pointed ears makes it no doubt who the parents are.

When he gets to hold his other daughter, the marvel is not diminished. Black hair, golden-green eyes and ears a bit less pointed than her sister.

Cullen looks over at his wife. She looks so tired, but happy and the expression at her face mirrors his; tears of joy and happiness, both at the beauty of their children and at a relatively easy birth.

When the sheets on the bed are changed, Cullen crawls in with his wife and their beautiful daughters.

Cullen doesn't know if he's ever been this happy, even though he thought the same the first time they kissed, and slept together, and when she returned back alive after fighting Corypheus, and when she said yes to marry him and when they married.

"I love you," he says as his wife drifts off to sleep and he gets up to put their children in their cribs.

"Love you too," she mumbles back, sleep blurring her speech.

That night Cullen doesn't dream a single bad thing.


End file.
